Блог обо всем и ни о чем…

Per usual I ended up not getting enough sleep, eating and drinking too much and overall having a nice business trip in NYC. Getting to meet up with an old friend is always a plus too!

The last time I was in NYC for this length of time I was still breastfeeding. The annoyance of lugging the pump around coupled with the stress about making sure the output stayed cold put a whole damper on the trip. This time around it was like a huge weight off my shoulders. Although I also missed my little munchkin. I hated that I couldn’t wake her up when I got home just to snuggle with her and give her lots of kisses. Not to worry, I made up for it this morning.

I would have posted while traveling but the building I was in blocked my access to FaceBook and any blog. Epic FAIL! Now I’m back on BigFinance’s VPN and able to indulge my love for social networking.

I still haven’t seen the first two nights of auditions for America Idol and I am trying to remain unspoiled. I did hear from Mommy, Esq. that the producers have FINALLY followed through on their promise and given us more «good» performances. And apparently a lot of those Hollywood-bound contestants need dental plans, STAT.

Despite my avoidance of all things American Idol I couldn’t help but hear that Simon officially announced this was his last year as a judge on American Idol. Part of me thinks, «good for him» because how many people deliberately go out on top vs. trying to milk it? The other, bigger part of me wonders if I will be as invested in the show without him. Simon allows me to like the show. He takes it seriously which is why his criticism is so harsh and also so spot on. We don’t want every judge to fawn over the contestants because then it will be an entire hour of cheese. And I already roll my eyes far too much at the heavy handed edits and sob stories.

4 judges is definitely too many. I think we will see that again this season. There is a reason other shows like America’s Got Talent or Dancing With The Stars each have 3 judges, and it’s not just because they were copying American Idol. (Full disclosure: I don’t watch those referenced shows.) I haven’t figured out yet if the producers will just stick with Randy, Kara and Ellen or if they will dig deep and cast another curmudgeonly Brit. I’m sure we’ll hear an announcement in the summer.

How about the rest of you? Will you enjoy AI as much without Simon? Do you think he had guts to leave or was it a stupid move to leave such a juggernaut? And a report $50+ million paycheck?

Looks like the temperatures are finally going to warm up this week. It’s been the longest cold snap in Charlotte in decades. And I’m so pleased we got to experience it during our 3rd winter here. Unfortunately I leave for NYC today and will be there until Thursday night. So I won’t get to enjoy 50+ degree weather until I return.

What else does that mean? My first American Idol recap of the season will be late. Sorry, folks! With business dinner and drinks, not to mention the lack of a DVR in my hotel room I won’t be able to watch the first two nights of auditions until this weekend. Perhaps one of these days I’ll look into a sling box….

Good news on the American Idol front, however. Turns out that everyone else hated the Top 36 and Wildcard format just as much as this faithful recapper did. So the producers have decided to go back to the Top 24 format with 12 guys and 12 ladies squaring off. The claim is that the audience gets more emotionally invested because we see the performers more often prior to the Top 12. I’m just happy that it might help with my American Idol pool rankings. I’m still hesitant about the 4 judges. Last season Simon didn’t get to weigh in on every performance and since I agree with him 95% of the time it was distressing for me. I also wonder who will take the Paula role over now that she is gone. There really has to be a judge who pours on the sugar as an antidote to Simon’s bitterness. Well, not really bitterness but that metaphor ran away from me. Y’all know what I mean.

I’ve been surveying my library to determine what books I can purge and how to turn it more kid friendly (read: store more toys) for Cameron. I’ve also packed two hard cover books for my trip to NYC. All in all it makes me lean towards one day getting an eReader. There are some pretty cool ones that were showcased last week in CES. Here’s a link highlighting a few. I am far from an early adopter. True, I got a Tivo way back in 2005 but even then it had been out for a few years. My biggest concern is that I want to make sure all my fantasy books get published in the digital format. And in strolling through Amazon I would estimate that only 30% are today. Anyone also struggle with this decision?

Cameron and I went to a birthday party for one of her play group friends this weekend. He turned one and his parents threw him a little party. It was timed perfectly for Cameron’s nap and she enjoyed playing with «new» toys and tasting ice cream for the first time. It also got me thinking about what to do for her first birthday. Our house isn’t very well set up for entertaining unless we were outside. But late March isn’t a great time to have a BBQ. Perhaps we should just do something low key with a trip to Discovery Place or some other kid friendly venue? What did you did for your kids’ first birthdays?